


A Knock At The Door

by marleyyy



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Depression, F/M, Jonathon and Nancy are Dating Because They Should, Joyce Byers Died, Loss of Parent(s), Sad Will Byers, Suicidal Thoughts, They live with their dad, Will Byers Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 05:48:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15679239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marleyyy/pseuds/marleyyy
Summary: "Just to know that his mom had died painfully made him sick to his stomach"





	1. Fake

**Author's Note:**

> This is kinda super sad and dark but it gets wholesome i promise : )

It had been three months since Jonathan's mom had died, and it hadn’t gotten any easier. Jonathan came home from work on a regular Thursday, expecting to see his Mom, but instead was greeted with a cop, a crying Will, and the news of his mother’s death. To top it off, he had to live with his dickhead dad now, because he couldn’t afford rent on his burger flipping salary.

Today was the funeral, the day that squeezed all the hope out of Will and Jonathon that this was some horrible prank, and their mom was really alive.The funeral was to be a closed casket, because Joyce’s injuries were too gruesome to look at. A semi-truck swerved out of the way of a drunk driver, and slammed right into Joyce’s car, causing it to explode. Her arms and legs were burnt, and her head had been bashed in by the steering wheel. Just to know that his mom had died painfully made him sick to his stomach. 

They rode to the graveyard, devastated that they still couldn’t afford to give her a headstone. Jonathan cried into Nancy’s arms almost the entire mass, thankful to have her there. His dad maintained a fake look of remorse on his face, telling everyone that walked by that he was devastated and that he appreciated their prayers. On the drive home he gazed out the window, feeling like he was being pulled through life on a string, out of control and helpless. 

He got home and stumbled to his room, hoping that he could cheer himself up by listening to some music.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Becky, his dad’s girlfriend, gripped. 

“To my room” Jonathan said, not even bothering to look at her. He wasn’t gonna deal with her bullshit today. 

“No you’re not, there’s dirty dishes in the sink, and they aren’t going to wash themselves”, she responded, clearly enjoying this. 

With every ounce of patience Jonathan had, he said,” Look, I’m tired, I just went to my mom’s funeral, and all I want to do is lay down. Can you just- can you just do them this once?”

“Uh, no. Besides, Doing them will take your mind of your mom or whatever”. 

Jonathan sighed. He walked into the kitchen, and flipped her off with both hands. He then started washing the dishes as loud as humanly possible, just to be petty. 

When he finally finished he went into his room, jumped on his bed, and stared at the ceiling. Everytime he laid down and closed his eyes, he could feel the gaping hole missing in his heart.


	2. Praying

Jonathan woke up thanking god that it was Monday, he was not in a good enough mental state to go to work. Hawkins was a small town, so everyone knew about his mother’s death. People would always say,”You have an angel watching over you now” as if that helped. He couldn’t stand when people said, ”She’s in a better place now”. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? The best place for her was as his mom, he needed her here, not “watching over him”. 

He walked over to his desk and picked up a picture of her. Stroking her cheek through the glass, he thought about how much he missed her. He would sell both his kidneys just to hug her one more time, or at least say goodbye. 

Will ran in Jonathan’s room crying, the spine-chilling sounds of a tornado warning filling their ears. The next few minutes were a blurry frantic mess. He grabbed the picture of his mom, his camera, and his mixtape with all of his favorite songs. Will ran and grabbed his sketchbook, his favorite pen, and his Mom’s jacket. They sped to the community shelter and ran in. Waiting there stuffed in a dark, humid room, they prayed that the tornado would somehow miss their trailer.


	3. The Edge

Will crawled out of his brothers car to see the piles of wood and metal that were once a trailer park. At his feet was one of his drawings. It was a drawing of The edges were ripped, and it was soaked in mud. He picked it up, crumpled it into a tight ball, and stomped it into the ground. Dropping to his knees, he put his head in his hands, not caring that he was getting one of his only three pairs of jeans muddy. Why was this happening to him? Hadn’t losing his mom been enough? He had to be homeless now, too?

He picked himself up off the ground, and looked around for his brother. A couple of feet away from him, Jonathan was taking pictures of the rubble. Will started to get angry. How could he be taking pictures right now? Did he want to remember one of the worst days of his life? 

Will stormed off down the road. He didn’t know where he was going, he just knew he wanted to be away from everything. Frustrated and sad, he could feel all of his emotions festering inside of him, like he was going to explode at any second. Finding himself at the cliff his friends always biked by, he walked out to it until his toes were lined up with the edge. 

He tried to refrain from thinking about jumping. But- he still felt tempted. If he just leaned a little to far forward, he could see his mom again, and escape the shit show that was his life. He was tired of staying positive and hoping for the best, he just wanted a happy normal life. He wanted an end to the pain and tragedy. 

But, Will knew escaping wasn’t that easy. He couldn’t do that, not to Jonathan, or Mike, or Will, or Lucas, or Dustin, or any of the other people who loved and cared for him. He stepped away from the edge and plopped down against a tree. He picked up a rock, and threw it as far into the river as he could. Starting to ugly cry, he could feel the veins in his neck popping out, his vision blurry with tears. He sat there alone, rocking back and forth, his lip quivering, and his breathing uneven.


	4. Raw

Will felt someone scoop him up and hold him in their arms. He peeled open his eyes, which were still raw from crying, and was shocked to see Nancy. He opened his mouth to say something, but she shushed him.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything”, she whispered. They laid there in silence, listening to the sounds of the wind and running water below the cliff. 

After at least ten minutes, she said “ We should probably go now. Jonathan has been looking all over for you”.

They got in Nancy’s car and drove to her house. Jonathan and Mike were pacing back and forth when they walked in. 

“What took you two so long?” Jonathan said, running to hug them both. 

“I was so worried something bad was gonna happen to you, Will”, Mike said, joining the hug. “I had this sick feeling in my stomach that something was wrong”. 

“Nah, I’m good”, Will lied. They pulled away from the hug and Mike took a good look at Will. The lower half of his body was smeared with mud, and the upper half looked like he hadn’t slept in years. His hair was tangled, (Mike was pretty sure he saw a couple leaves hidden in it) and his face was puffy and swollen. 

“Dude, you look like shit” Mike said laughing.

“Thanks”. 

Nancy smacked the back of Mike’s head. “You and Jonathan are gonna stay here, since your dad’s house was destroyed. Our parents said that your welcome to stay as long as you want”,she said softly.


	5. Wild Goose Chase

Jonathan went up to the high school the next day to develop his photos. It’s not that he wanted to remember that day, but taking photos always made him feel better. He felt like he could take the crushing weight of life off for a second, and just capture its beauty, or in this case it’s destruction. 

When he was done developing them, he hung them up in the dark room, and went to the bathroom. On his way back, a man in a very nice suit sprinted past him, almost hitting him as they passed each other.

Wondering why that guy was in such a big hurry, he grabbed his photos, and drove back to The Wheeler’s house. 

“You’re just in time for breakfast”, Nancy said, greeting him with a kiss.

Nancy set eggs, bacon, and biscuits in the middle of the table. Will and Jonathan piled their plates high, they hadn’t had a home cooked meal in ages. They had been living off of pizza and chinese takeout for months. They stuffed their faces, not caring about table manners. Suddenly, a knock at the door interrupted their feast. 

Jonathan opened the door, his mouth still full with biscuit. 

The same man he saw running in the hallway was outside. His hair was a little messed up and his suit was sweaty. “Is Jonathan Byers here?” he asked. 

“Hwmohwn” Jonathan swallowed his biscuit, “That’s me”, he repeated.

“I have been looking all over for you. I saw your photos in the darkroom and they were amazing, you’re very talented. You know what, let me put a pin in that and introduce myself”. He handed Jonathan a business card. “ My name is Richard Collins. I work for National Geographic, and I would like to offer you a job as a field photographer.”

Jonathan’s eyes grew wide. “Like, right now?!” he asked.

Richard laughed. “Yes, right now. I’ve been on a wild goose chase trying to find you.”

Jonathan was speechless. He stared at Richard in disbelief.

“If you could come to this building tomorrow at nine am, I will get your contract signed and you can start in a week” Richard said, flipping the business card to reveal an address on the back. He started walking back towards his car, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“See ya” Jonathan said walking back inside. Did that really just happen? Did he really just get a job offer for a high paying job? And it was something he loved doing! Will was gonna be so excited.


	6. Buff

Two months had passed and Jonathan had saved up a lot of money. Will lived with him and Nancy in an apartment right outside of Hawkins. Jonathan and Nancy were engaged, and they were finally able to afford a headstone for their Mom. 

Will stood to the right of his Mom’s grave, flowers in his right hand. Jonathan was behind him, his left elbow resting on Will’s shoulder. Will bent down and placed the flowers next to her headstone.

“She would be really proud of you, with what you’ve done with your job and stuff”,Will said. 

“Ya, but she would prouder of you. You went through so much, and you never gave up. You kept your head held high, and that takes a lot of strength. You’ve got to be the strongest person I know.”

“I am pretty buff”, Will said as he flexed his thin arms like a bodybuilder.

“Woaw, put those away, you’re gonna scare the kids” Jonathan joked.

Jonathan put his arm around Will and they walked back to the car.


End file.
